Company Announcement - Air Products South Africa, a leader in the Southern African bulk, cylinder and specialty gas supply markets, prides itself on its capacity to identify innovative solutions to meet its customers’ needs.  Central to the company’s customer service ethos is the ability to provide long-term security of supply, reliability and flexibility which matches their customers’ changing requirements. Nowhere is this philosophy more evident than in Air Products’ CryoEase mode of supply, an innovative and flexible solution which provides ‘total gas management’.

Gary Lombard, CryoEase Business Manager at Air Products, explains: “When it comes to their industrial gas requirements, we ensure total peace of mind for our customers. This means assuring them of the highest levels of long-term security of supply, in such a way that they do not ever need to worry about gas availability. This frees them up to concentrate on their own core business, thereby epitomising our company’s commitment to ‘service that delivers the difference’.” One of Air Products’ long-term customers recently made the ‘switch’ from a cylinder-based mode of supply to CryoEase, and is reaping the multiple benefits thereof.
Budget Sheet Metal Engineering, a family-run business which specialises in the manufacture of sheet metal parts and finished products has used cylinder gas supply from Air Products for more than a decade. The nature of the business is such that demand is erratic, and based on ‘ad hoc’ jobs of varying sizes.

“Depending on the job, consumption of gas can be quite significant, and we found that the cylinder method was becoming increasingly challenging,” says Claudio Ferrari, Managing Director of Budget Sheet Metal.  “There are various difficulties inherent in managing cylinder turnover, such as doing cylinder stock reconciliations and dealing with product loss.” When Budget Sheet Metal up-scaled its operational footprint from two smaller premises to one large, 2 600m2 space in Randburg, the company decided to review its gas supply contract with Air Products, and looked at various options. “We did our industry research, and this exercise confirmed for us that Air Products has similar organisational values and ethics; as well as an equally high regard for customer service excellence. In addition, they provided us with a practical solution to our supply needs. Thanks to their recommendation regarding CryoEase, we have not looked back,” Ferrari says. Air Products, in turn, aims to build strong, long-term relationships with customers built on open communication and trust. “We were there when Budget Sheet Metal needed us and, armed with the correct and relevant information, we were able to work together to find a suitable solution,” says Lombard.

CryoEase is a method of liquid gas delivery which suits a manufacturing or fabrication facility where gas requirements have outstripped cylinder volume capability, and where the premises are large enough to house a large storage tank. These criteria were all perfectly aligned to Budget Sheet Metal’s requirements. “The beauty of CryoEase is that we can manage supply on a long-term basis without our customer needing to be involved in the ordering process,” says Lombard. “Our telemetry system alerts us well before levels run critically low – thereby eliminating the risk of an unplanned downtime due to an interruption in supply - which can potentially be disastrous for any manufacturing operation.”

Air Products supplies Budget Sheet Metal with high purity specialty gas mixtures for various fabrication applications, notably as a coolant for use on its laser machinery.  The company, specialising in stainless steel, mild steel and aluminium, offers CNC punching, laser profiling, bending, jigging, Quality Assurance, welding (including robotic welding), grinding, de-burring and finishing. Its diverse product and service offering is bolstered by its use of a 3D computer-aided draughting system, which gives enhanced accuracy and efficiency to the prototype design process.  For Budget Sheet Metal, which has enjoyed steady growth in recent years, it was critical to find an industrial gas supplier which could efficiently match its increased volume requirements. “With Air Products’ CyroEase system, we can meet high demand without interruptions in production.  This is thanks to the size of the tank, which is based permanently at our premises, and to the fact that Air Products is consistently monitoring volume levels. We are furthermore impressed with the quality of the gas itself, and the mode of supply and delivery is a practical and effective solution which really suits our needs,” Ferrari comments.

“With CryoEase, Budget Sheet Metal can focus on its operations without worrying about managing their gas, and without the fear of down-time or damage to materials in the event of an interruption in supply.  Continuous flow means enhanced productivity, and enables the company to focus on growing the business.  And as the business grows, Air Products will be there, managing our customer’s supply and demand proactively, every step of the way,” Lombard concludes.